Teams

TEAMS

REQUIREMENTS AND GUIDELINES FOR VOLUNTEER TEAMS

We cannot fulfill our vision without your help. Volunteer teams multiply our efforts in extending God’s Kingdom more rapidly. We desire to provide an opportunity for you, your church and your organization to achieve your destiny in God. One way we can accomplish this is through giving you an opportunity to be part of God’s redemptive plan in Zambia. A short-term visit is generally 2-3 weeks.

Contact us at [email protected] if you would like to send a team. We look forward, in partnership with you, to start planning a life changing experience.

REQUIREMENTS

Below are our prerequisites for all individuals who form part of a volunteer team. Your application, or request to send a team only initiates the invitation process. We will read your information and pray about how God may plan to use you here. We will appreciate your prayerful patience before making final plans until we have confirmed that your application is successful.

Those volunteering with us need to have a personal commitment to Christ Jesus and a hunger for a deeper walk with Him.

Volunteers need to be willing to submit to authority and demonstrate a servant’s heart.

Unless traveling with a parent or team, visitors must be at least 18 years of age.

You need to be self-financed. You are responsible to raise your own support to cover both personal and work related expenses for the team. The Zambia Project is under no obligation to cover the costs of any work or projects you undertake under the auspices of the Project.

You need to be sent and recommended by your local church or Christian sending organization. We require a written recommendation and character references for team members.

You’ll need proper ministry experience in line with the role you wish to fulfill while in Zambia e.g. if you wish to do leadership training in Zambia, you must have trained leaders within your sending church or organization.

We require that you are all covered with emergency medical insurance for the duration of your term in Zambia. This is essential for all who visit or work in Zambia, whether for a few days or several years. Most domestic medical insurance plans do not cover foreign travel, so check with your plan administrator to verify your coverage. If you need additional coverage, you can talk to your travel agent. Alternatively, you can give us proof that you have sufficient finances in case of any emergency.

We will send you a letter of invitation that will be necessary for your visa application. Individuals from most countries will be able to get their ‘Business Visa’ upon arrival in Zambia. It is your responsibility to confirm details with the Zambian Embassy in your country of relevance.

Your team leader will need to submit the following completed and signed forms and documents for each member of your team to the Zambia Project’s leadership upon your arrival in Zambia:

To assist us with our planning and with drawing up your team’s ministry program while in Zambia, please provide us with the following as soon as you have the details:

Arrival and departure dates.

The number of members in your team as well as their names and ages.

Please also send us the area that each individual wishes to be involved, his or her gifting, skills & experience.

The list can look something like this:

Peter Miller, 25 years old. Would like to work with orphans, is a gifted piano player and has experience in teaching pre-scholars for 3 years.

Susan Strauss, 50 years old. Would like to work with vulnerable women, loves knitting and has led a cell group at church for 4 years.

We strive as best we can to place individuals where they would like to serve, but our respective ministry leaders might not be available, or it might not fit into your team’s program.

PLANNING YOUR TRIP

Dates

Because we live on a Flood Plain, in most regions there are only certain months of the year that the roads are accessible for travel to the villages. The best time for travel to these areas is between April and December. However, outreaches are possible all year in and around Mongu. School holidays are our busiest times and our advice is to set your dates at least six months in advance so that we can book the time for your team to visit.

We advise that you plan to spend a minimum of seven days in Zambia itself and then add your travel dates onto that. It usually takes between two to three days to drive up from South Africa depending on the route you take and the number of vehicles in your convoy. Teams flying in from the States generally take three to four days to reach Mongu.

Transport

It is possible to reach Mongu with a normal vehicle from South Africa if you drive via Lusaka, but 4×4 models are the best option and the only vehicles suitable for outreaches to the villages. Larger teams from neighboring countries like South Africa and Namibia are most effective if they can come up in their own 4×4′s. Having your own transport alleviates the problem of your team not being able to visit needy communities in remote and far-off places.

Many of our visitors use the option of flying to Lusaka and then taking the bus from there to Mongu. We often are able to provide camping accommodation at Mutoya Campsite and transport and camping equipment to villages for smaller teams. This might be your only viable option if your team is arriving from oversees.

Preparation

It would be beneficial if you could start planning your trip at least six months in advance. Your accommodation will be camping while at Mutoya and in the villages during your outreach. You will need to bring all your own camping equipment and you are responsible for every aspect of your trip including purchasing and preparing food for the entire team. You will be assigned a host by the Zambia Project to assist you with all the logistics while you are with us. For more information on the planning of your trip and what you need to bring with you, please download the following documents:

We believe that there is something important for anyone to do who wishes to be part of a short-term team to Zambia! Teams consist of different people with a variety of different gifts, skills, experience and personalities. We would like each member of your team to serve in an area where they choose. Below are some of the options you can consider, depending on the make-up and experience of your team:

Church Planting

Leadership Training

Discipleship

Evangelism

Women’s Ministry

Children’s Ministry

Men’s Ministry

Sports Ministry

Prayer and Intercession

Medical

Primary health care

Agriculture

Biblical teachings

Establishing wells

Information Technology

Vehicle Mechanics

Building & maintenance

Entrepreneurship Training

Skills development

Orphan work

Photography and Music and worship

Your team may focus on more than one ministry. For example, some team members may do leadership training while others are involved with teaching women to sew. For those involved with ministry, it is recommended for everyone to be able to evangelise, share their personal testimonies and be prepared to lead someone to the Lord with relevant scriptures.

Training

Your first day in Zambia will be set aside for orientation and training, relevant to your area of focus. We also advise teams who will be involved in ministry to arrange training dates and material for their entire team before their trip commences.

Topics to consider include:

Cross Cultural Communication

Sharing personal testimonies

Presenting a clear and relevant salvation message

Biblical story telling

Content for the teachings each individual will do

Prayer and intercession

Biblical basis of Missions

Team dynamics and conflict resolution

It will be fun to take your whole team camping for one night before your trip. It provides a team building exercise, you can check all your equipment and for anyone who has never camped before, it is a quick introduction to camp life.

Building Teams

A valuable way of contributing to extending God’s Kingdom is through using the skills that God has given you. Building teams play a vital role in assisting us to be more effective. We are in the process of construction for orphan homes, an orphan school and a security wall at the Village of Hope. We invite you to sponsor a house for orphans, bring a team and assist with the completion of it! Assisting us with the establishment of water wells in Western Zambia is also an immediate and effective way of uplifting an entire community of people. The costs involved with the establishment of a water well is $4 000 US (R30 000.00)

FINANCES & BUDGETING

Many of our visitors fly to Lusaka and take the bus from there to Mongu. Your bus tickets to and from Mongu will cost approximately $35 (R240) per person. You may also be charged for your luggage, but this should not exceed $5 (R40) per person. You will be responsible to book your own flights. It is advisable to arrive in Lusaka to avoid an over night stay in the city. The last bus leaves for Mongu around 1pm each day. However, should you require accommodation in Lusaka, we would advise you to stay at the Flying Missions Guest House who charge you about $20 (R140) per night. You can book through their website www.flyingmission.org/fmzguesthouse.php The Holiday Inn in Lusaka will be a more expensive option. Your transport within Lusaka from the airport to the guesthouse, or bus station will be around $35 (R240) for four people. You can also make transport arrangements with the Flying Mission Guest House.

Visas

When you enter the country, you need to show our ‘Letter of Invite’ at Immigration. The officers need to stamp your passport with a 30-day business visit VISA, as you will be volunteering for a non-profit organization. You will not be charged for this if you are a South African. (Volunteers from most other countries need to pay $50 USD for a single entry and $80 USD for a multiple entry. It is your responsibility to confirm the VISA details with the Zambian Embassy in your country of residence before your departure.

Transport

If you do not have your own vehicles you will need to make use of public transport in and around Mongu, as well as to villages. Please budget $220 (R1 500) per week for a team of 10 people.

Communication

You can please budget around $30 (R200) for communication via a Mobile/Cell phone. We have a limited bandwidth on our Internet connection at Mutoya (our base), so you will only be able to use our Internet to send emails and communicate via Facebook. If you need to make a SKYPE call, please discuss this with the project’s leadership before hand. If you need to make more regular SKYPE calls, or download video clips you will need to make use of the internet café in town at your own cost.

Accommodation at Mutoya

You will be camping in your own tents and use our campsite ablutions (showers and toilets). Although we do not charge our volunteer teams for accommodation, we do appreciate a contribution towards security, water, electricity, etc. An average contribution would we around $5 (40) per person per day.

Personal

Your personal expenses really depend on you. Some buy and eat the basic local food available and others buy more expensive groceries at Shoprite. Shoprite is a grocery store that sells most of the general items for everyday use. Some people may want to buy souvenirs. With all of these variables in lifestyle it is hard to predict what you will spend. Food items generally cost about double the price in Zambia compared to prices in America and South Africa. We suggest student teams to budget around $6 (R40) per person per day for food. We kindly request that you also budget for our local leaders’ (interpreters) food if you will be part of an outreach to a village. Budget for 1 interpreter for every 3 volunteers in your team.

DONATIONS

Many of our visitors are very generous, both financially and through gifts and supplies they donate to the Zambia Project. We require that all donations of supplies, as well as cash donations, be given directly to the full-time leadership team for distribution to ensure that they are expended in keeping with the ministry’s current priorities and needs. If you wish to designate a particular area to benefit from your contribution, we will certainly honor your intention as much as possible.